In the interview, “Struggles of a startup: Building Nigeria’s largest furniture mall”, I openly discussed my vision for Furnish.NG and how we intend to weather this present economic storm.
I hope you will enjoy the read. Feedback is highly welcome.
This is actually the first time I’m seeing this. At least we both share admiration for Dangote and the contstruction industry.
Ok. @Ndianabasi, Questions:
Is your business model tending towards Ikea or Walmart?
Don’t you think you should form partnerships with Jumia and/or Konga to reach more people?
How do you control the quality of products supplied by the carpenters and craftsmen on furnish.ng? Because although they are largely independent, whatever bad feedback customers get from them reflects on you.
Thank @Chris. Yea, Dangote is my role model. He’s a shining example of how entrepreneurship, manufacturing, and commerce can transform a country and a continent. As an engineer, I’m very much inclined towards value creation through manufacturing and (e)commerce.
Back to your questions:
- Globally, furniture chains integrate online and offline fulfillment channels for optimal business success. Ikea operates a franchise model which is understandable for such a global company. We are stitching best practices from different successful furniture retailing and manufacturing companies around the world.
- Jumia/Konga partnership: I haven’t considered such a partnership yet. However, they already have furniture categories on their stores.
- We have a standardized quality control and assurance policy which our partner carpenters adhere to as regards material selection, frame construction, upholstery, painting, etc. We work very closely with them.